Gear-shift-lever lock



Aug. 2 0, 1929.

c. L. ,JOHNSON GEAR SHIFT LEVER LocK 2 sheets-sheet riginal Filed Feb. 2s, 1927 A118 20,1929- c. L JOHNSON u 1,725,003

GEAR SHIFT LEVER Loox 2. sheets- Sheet 2 original Filed Feb. 28,1927

Patented Aug. 20, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

COLVIN L. JOHNSON, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO JOmISON AUTOMOBILE LOCK CO., OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

GEAR-SHIFT-LEVER LOCK.

Original application filed February 28, 1927, Serial No. 171,448. Divided and this application lied September 19, 1927.

The present invention relates in general to lever locking mechanism, and more particularly to a mechanism which may be effectively employed to contemporaneously lock a gear shift lever in an inoperative position and for breaking the automoblle `engine ignition circuit. The present application is a division of my co-pending patent application, Serial No. 171,448, iled February 28th, 1927. t t

An object of my invention 1s the provision of lever locking mechanism of the above type wherein the control means for operating the locking mechamsm forms a part of the lever handle and is slidable on the lever.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a lookin device of the above described character w erein both the locking and unlocking operations may be effected by a movement of the slldabley lock housing at the handle end of the shift lever.

Still another object of my invention 1s to provide a lever locking device embodying interiorly releasable means for locklng a cover over the pivot of the lever.

A further object of the invention relates to the provision of a gear shift lever lock which is simple, durable and relatlvely 1nexpensive to manufacture and which may be conveniently locked and unlocked by the manipulation of the lever handle.

Still a further object of this invention resides in the provision of novel means operable by the locking mechanism for the gear shift lever to open a switch disposed 1n the automobile engine ionition circuit.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will more fully appear from the following detailed description, taken in connec- 0 tion with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a single embodiment thereof and in which:

Figure l isa fragmentary elevation of a gear shift lever handle embodying lock mechanism of my invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary vertical. sectional view through the lever; Y

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken through the lever handle .Undesirable vibration o Serial No. 220,590.

andlocking mechanism associated therewith with parts shown in elevation;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line IV-IV of' Figure 3 looking in the direction indicated bythe arrows and showing the handle in a locked position;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Figure 4 illustrating the handle i Like reference characters designate similar parts throughout the several views. The reference numeral 1 indicates a gear shift lever which is pivotally mounted in a transmission housing cover 2 on the usual ball 3, the ball ordinarily being secured to the lever by a pin 4. The ball 3 and the lever 1 i are secured from'longitudinal lmovement relativeto the cover 2 by means of a locking wire 5 inserted in the groove in the wall of the cover portion directl above said ball. the lever in its pivotal mounting is prevented by aV gasket or washer which is secured in the recess in the cover 2 directly above the ball 3 and the i wire 5. Access tothe pivotal mounting of the lever is prevented by a cover member 7 which has a concave under surface 8 and which is lockingly secured to the lever by a spring-pressed internal plunger 9 which engages in a recess in said lever. The plunger 9 is in practice released by pushing a tool or rod upwardly through groove 21 in the lever alongside of the rod 22. Y

The upper end of the lever 1 is provided with a shghtly enlarged` portion 1 which is recessed at its upper end as at l", and slidably mounted on said enlarged portion l" is a cylindrical casing l0 which has secured' thereto an annular member 11 with a spherical surface whereby the casing and said member 11 afford a substantially ballshaped handle for the lever 1. Mounted in the upper end of the casing 10 with its outer Y recess 15ZL formed in the inner wall of the casing 10. Said lock bolt 15 is slidably `mounted in a lateral recess in the enlarged portion 1L of the lever 1 and is normally urged outwardly relative to the surface of said enlarged portion 1a by means of a helicalr spring 16 which is engaged between the end of the recess and a shoulder 17 formed on said bolt 15.A The bolt 15 is reduced in diameter between said shoulder 17 and its outer end to afford a recess for the reception of the eccentric projection 14, said eccentric M proj'ection 14 contacting that face of the 'shoulder 17 opposite the end of the spring 16 when the plug 13 is rotated to retract the boit i5.. y

The casing 10 and the mechanism carried thereby are normally urged upwardly by a helical spring 18y engaged in the recess 1b between the .inner end of the cylinder 12 and the end of the leverportion 1a at the bottom of said recess 1b. YVhen the plug 13` y is rotated to retract the lock bolt 15, the "spring 18 will force the casing 10 and the parts carried thereby upwardly into ythe position shown in Figure 5 at which time the bolt 15 will snap into a recess 19 and retainV the-'casing 10 in said position shown `:in Figure 5 which will be noted hereinafter as unlocked position. This retaining ofl the cas-ing 1.@L in unlocked position prevents accidental downward movement of said casing during normal* manipulation of the lever and when it is desired to push thecasing .10

Y downwardly into the' position shown in- Figure 4, it is only necessary for lthe operator to press inwardly on the laterally extending button'20'wh-ich is reciprocably mounted in the casi-ng 10 and the endof which communi-f cates with the recess 19'. This pressure on the butto-n 20' will push the bolt 15 out of the recess 19v andv will' permit the 'casing'.to

The vrecipfrocable movement of the handle portionlon the end of the lever 1 controls a mechanism for locking said lever from operation iin a mannerl which will nowV be de- 'scribed'.Y Sai-d lever 1 is provided with aVK longitudinal passa-ge'21 y(Figure 6) in which a wire connecting rod or link 22 is reciproc ably mountedl. rlheV upper endY of the'wi're tion shown in Figure 5.

22 terminates in a lateral portion 22 which extends into an elongated recess 23 formed in the enlarged portion 1a at the end of the lever 1. Permanently secured in the casing 10, and extending into said recess 28 is a blind' stud or set screw 24 into which thel lateral portion 22n of the connecting rod or wirev 22 extends and is secured.

'The passage 21 through the lever is preferably formed by milling a groove in said lever and then closing the outer end of said groove lthe insertion of a wire 21a and ,welding compound 21b therein, after which so that that portion of the passage 21vbelow said cover member 7 is in effect only a groove in the lever which is clearly shown in F igure 2 and which l have designated by the reference numeral 21. Y Y

rlhe connecting rod or wire 22 is provided at its lower end with a lateral projection 22by which is connected to av sleeve or collar 23 sli'dably mounted on, the lower extremity of the lever 1 and' adapted to engage when in its lowermost position in anaperture 24 defined by bosses 2525 Vformed integral with `the transmission housing cover 2 to lock the lever fiom operation when the lever is in a neutral position, as is well known in the art. It will thus be apparent that when the casing 10 and the parts carried thereby are in the position shown in Figure 5, itis only necessary for the operator to press inwardly on'the button 20 and downwardly on the handle portion afforded by said parts to force the locking sleeve or collar 23 downwardly untilI the bolt 15 snaps into the recess 15a andlocks said handle portionin the posi- This downward movement of the handle portion will, of course, serve tomove the sleeve or collar 23 downwardly into locking engagement in the manner previously referred to.

It will be apparentfrom the foregoing description that I have provided a lever loci:-

l ing mechanism which may be conveniently and. effectively used' to lock levers such as automobile gear 'shifting levers and the lillze from unauthorized operation. The mechay nism which I have provided is very easy and be pushed downwardly by the application of 'pressure-to* the endof the handle portion.

convenient to loclr and unlock being only necessary to push the release button 2O and press downwardly on the handle to effect the locking loperation and being only necessary to insert a key in the lock cylinder and rotate the saniethcreby to permit, the unlocking operation to automatically takeplace. By-

llO

reason of the construction which I have pfrci i vided, it is possible to retain the desi-red neat appearance and' small dimensions of a usual gear shift lever and at the same time have the lever equipped with the improved locking mechanism of my invention.

In Figures 7 and 8 I have shown a lever locking mechanism embodying the principles of the present invention used in conjunction with an ignition control switch in such a manner that a movement of the handle casing `to locking position serves to automatically the mounting of switch control means in the path of the locking sleeve 23 which, as previously described, is slidably mounted on the lower portion of the lever 1 and which is controlled by the movement of the handle casing 10 and the handle 11 in the manner previously described. 'lhe lever is locked from movement through the engagement of the sleeve or collar 23 in the opening formed between the two bosses 25-25.

In order to facilitate the actuation of the ignition switch by the downward movement of said sleeve or collar 23 to locking position, I preferably chamfer the lower edge of said sleeve or collar, as indicated at 39a. Slidably and adjust-ably mounted in a passage through one of the bosses 25 is a plunger 41, the inner end of which is rounded andv normally projects into the opening between the bosses 25 in the path of the sleeve or collar 23. The adjustable mounting for the plunger 41 is secured through a threaded plug 42 which engages in the threaded recess in the outside of the transmission housing cover 2 and the outer end of which is abutted by the integral shoulder 41a formed on said plunger. The outer end of the plunger 41 is secured to a flat leaf spring member 43 one end of which is secured to a stud 44 projecting from the transmission housing cover. The leaf spring 43 is insulated from said stud 44 and the plunger 41 is in turn insulated from the leaf spring by suitable insulating washers. Also secured to the stud 44 and insulated therefrom is a leaf spring 45 similar in construction to the leaf spring 43 and spaced therefrom. The leaf spring 45 is provided with an opening 46 through which the enlarged portion 41a of the plunger 41 extends without contacting said leaf spring45.

The springs 43 and 45 respectively carry contact members 47 and 48 which are normally held in contact by the resiliency of the spring 43. The springs 43 and 45 are also electrically connected in the ignition circuit of the automobile engine on which the transmission embodying my locking mechanism is mounted through suitable electrical conductors 49 connected thereto and extending outwardly through an opening in a flange 50 which is preferably integral with the transmission housing cover and which encloses the switch mechanism just described. By virtue of the construction described herein, the contat-ts 47 and 48 are normally together thus completing the ignition circuit, but when said contactsA are forced apart by the engagement of the sleeve or collar 23 with the plunger 41 when said sleeve or collar is moved to locking position, the ignition circuit is opened and the engine is stopped.

While the entire control of the ignition circuit is normally effected through the locking and unlocking of the lever locking mechanism of this invention, I have also found it desirable in certain instances to provide a coasting switch whereby the ignition circuit may be disconnected without locking the gear shift lever. This may conveniently be accomplished by forming the ends of the springs 43 and 45 in the manner shown in the drawingsat 51 and providing an auxiliary switch operator for insertion between the springs at this point to force the same and the contacts 47 and 48 apart. The auxiliary switch operator which I .have provided for this purpose comprises a plunger 52 which is slidably mounted in the casing 53 and which is normally spring retracted by a helical spring 54 mounted in said casing. The casing 53 is mounted in a flange 50 formed integral with housing 2. Also it will be noted that the two flanges are connected by a detachable cover or closure plate 51. The lower or inner end of the plunger 52 is preferably constructed of insulating material, as shown at 55, and is adapted to engage the formed ends of the springs 43 and 45 to hold the same apart in the manner indicated in Figure 8. The engagement of the portion 55 with the formed ends 51 of the springs is in a manner similar to that common in telephone jack construction, the frictional engagement between said parts being sufficient to hold the plunger in position to separatey the springs until the same is manually released and allowed to move back to the position shown in Figure 7 under the impetus of the spring 54. The plunger 52 is preferably provided with a but-ton shaped exterior portion 56 for engagement by the handA or foot of the operator. As previously noted, this auxiliary switch operator mechanism is not normally used but is provided to meet those cont-ingencies wherein it is desired to shut off the engine without locking the gear shift lever. Normal control of the ignition system for starting and stopping the engine is effected through the locking and unlocking operations previously described herein.

N ow, of course, it is to be understood that although I have illustrated and described my invention in detail, the invention is not to be thus limited, but only in so far as defined by the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. The combination With a gear shift lever of a housing therefor, a locking member slidably connected to said lever, lock means connected to the upper portion of said lever to control the operation of said locking member, means projecting inwardly from said housing and defining an opening through which said lever extends and into which said locking member is movable to lock the lever against operation, a plunger extending into said opening and operable by the movement of said locking member into said opening, and an ignition switch associated With and operable by said plunger.

2. The combination with a gear shift lever of a housing therefor, a looking member slidably disposed on said lever, means movable on the handle end of said lever for operating said locking member, means connected to said housing defining an opening through which said lever extends and into which said locking member is arranged to be moved to lock the lever against operation, and a switch associated with said latter means and including an element projecting into said opening for engagement by said locking member When said locking member is moved into said opening whereby said switch is operated contemporaneously with the locking of said lever against operation.

3. In a switch associated With a transmission housing and controlled by a gear shift lever locking means operated by the handle member of the lever, cooperable switch contact members, means for controlling the op eration of said members extending inwardly into said housing and into an opening formed'in said housing to receive said lever locking means When said lever is locked against operation, said latter switch means being so positioned as to open said switch when the lever is locked against operation.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

COLVIN L. JOHNSON. 

